Ice Phoenix
Chapter 33 - Aftermath

The large, dark ship flew low over Si Ren Da’s surface, scanning for survivors. It was a prototype ship, piloted by none other than Imeldor Kuldor Brim. Towards the back of the ship was a small hangar which housed several large capsules, each capable of accommodating a large person. Right now, Grandmaster Deitrux tended to the people in the capsules, his face stricken with grief at the injuries of the younger Imeldors.

They had discovered Baneyon first. Grandmaster Deitrux had not even waited for Kuldor to release the suction beam; he flew down to the surface to retrieve the young Imeldor himself. The severity of Baneyon’s injuries was horrifying, and Grandmaster Deitrux fought to keep him alive. They attached him to countless tubes in the capsule and worked together to stem his bleeding. What they lacked were blood bags, and Baneyon had lost plenty of blood. It was the grandmaster’s qi that continued to keep Baneyon’s heart beating, but he knew it would only be a matter of time before even that method failed.

Then, they located Raimus with a very weak Quempa by his side. Raimus had lost one of his three hearts, and they packed him into a capsule with several pli-gel bags. Quempa had insisted on staying up, and he cut a forlorn figure keeping vigil over Baneyon.

For Grandmaster Deitrux and Kuldor, it was an endless nightmare. They picked up a comatose Lady Fless, L-Master Kalum, who was still frozen, and L-Master Ana’s headless body. Still missing were Master Ferro, Lady Anrath, and Queen Julere.

“I see no sign of the demons or the queen,” Kuldor called out from the cockpit.

Grandmaster Deitrux sighed heavily and walked over to Quempa. “Quempa? Do you recall anything of what happened here? Do you know what happened to the queen?”

Quempa shook his head, wiping away the tears that had begun to spill down his face. “When I came to, Raimus and I were falling. I managed to cushion our impact and that was when I saw the sky turn to fire. If I hadn’t buried myself and Raimus deep underground, we would surely have died.”

There was a short silence as Quempa tried to regain his composure, then he said, “Were you able to replace the children?”

Grandmaster Deitrux turned cold. “What children?”

“The queen’s son, the girl from Sector Thirteen, and another boy.”

“The queen’s son came to Si Ren Da?” Grandmaster Deitrux stepped back in shock.

Quempa nodded, struggling to replace sense in what he had witnessed. While he was trying to collect his thoughts, something very large and heavy landed atop the ship, and heavy pounding rang from above. Grandmaster Deitrux yelled out. “Kuldor!”

“I’m on it!”

The big, hairy Gratchonian sprung from the cockpit and raced down the hangar. He reached a long ladder at the end and started to climb. Once at the top, he hurled himself onto a large lever, forcing it to turn with his weight. A wide, heavy door opened above. In stumbled Nisa, Dragoth, and Eindz, carrying their stricken passengers. The hangar now seemed very small as the faars took up most of the space. Grandmaster Deitrux caught sight of the queen’s bloodless, wounded form. Fear flooded him.

He raced over and lifted her off Nisa. Her body levitated briefly as Grandmaster Deitrux gently laid her into a capsule. He quickly felt for a pulse. ”Kuldor, she’s not breathing!”

As he frantically administered first aid to her, Lorn and the prince slid off Dragoth and raced to the grandmaster’s side.

"Kuldor!” shouted Grandmaster Deitrux. “She’s not responding to qi treatment! What’s wrong with her?”

Kuldor dropped from the ceiling to land next to him. He took one look at the queen’s injuries and blanched, his fur gathering in one spot on his forehead. “Dartkala! She’s been stabbed by the phoenix blade. It destroys qi — that’s why she’s not responding.” He grabbed some pli-gel bandages from the side of the capsule and began binding her stomach with them. A life support monitor attached to the capsule’s lid began beeping.

“Out of my way!” Kuldor barked.

Everyone jumped out of his way. Kuldor took one step and he was at the foot of the capsule. He tapped a yellow button, and a drawer popped open. Strange instruments lay on a white, sterilised sheet and there were several bags containing different coloured liquids.

Kuldor rested his hands on either side of the drawer, and they were quickly sprayed with lather. Then the lather transformed into gloves. He went on to pick up a syringe and used it to extract a yellow liquid from one of the bags. Then, he plunged the needle into the queen’s heart.

“Why doesn’t this ship have a full medical facility?” cried Lady Anrath as she watched her beloved queen convulse.

“It’s a prototype,” said Kuldor, grimly. “There wasn’t any time to waste coming here. Any other ship would have taken another two days to reach this planet.” He nodded at the queen’s injuries. “Her internal organs are damaged and she’s bleeding out. I’ve injected medic-bots into her body but they can only slow down the bleeding, not repair her organs. Young prince, I will require some of your blood.”

Prince Gil Ra Im nodded. He looked like a ghost, clearly anxious for his mother.

“The rest of you need to leave. It’s no use standing here, it won’t help.”

As the others fell back, Grandmaster Deitrux took Lorn and Lady Anrath aside. “How did this happen?” he asked, his expression grave.

“It was the girl,” answered Lady Anrath. “She attacked the queen and stabbed her with Baneyon’s phoenix spear.”

“Are you referring to Terrana?” Grandmaster Deitrux couldn’t have looked more shocked. “She’s just a child!”

“She was no child,” snarled Lady Anrath. “She was a monster!”

Grandmaster Deitrux turned to Lorn. “Can you confirm this?”

Lorn nodded, still numbed by everything he had witnessed. “It was Terrana, but it wasn’t Terrana,” he said slowly. “It was her body and her face, but it wasn’t her. She was ... somebody else. She was covered in flames. She was savage ...” he trailed off, trapped in the memory of Terrana’s heinous act.

“Savage?” repeated Grandmaster Deitrux.

“She ripped the undead demon apart piece by piece,” cut in Lady Anrath. “I guess she had it in for him because he was the one that killed Baneyon. Then, she turned on the two remaining demons and released a fire that scorched the sky and the earth. Her power would have consumed even the pendant had not the demons used it to open a vortex to escape.”

“And so in the end, they escaped with the pendant?”

Lady Anrath nodded. “The faars carried us out of harm’s way.”

“Where is she now — Terrana?”

Lady Anrath shook her head. “I don’t know. What matters is that she is not here.”

Grandmaster Deitrux frowned. “Why didn’t she come after you? In that state of mind, I’d assume she was trying to kill everyone.”

“She wasn’t,” said a weak voice. The grandmaster turned around in surprise to see the prince rising unsteadily to his feet.

“Steady, young Highness,” warned Kuldor. “I took a lot of blood. You should remain seated.”

The prince took a step, wobbled, and collapsed back into his seat. Grandmaster Deitrux hurried over to him. “That’s right — you’ve seen her transform before, haven’t you? At the school,” he said.

Lorn glanced at the prince in surprise.

Prince Gil Ra Im nodded. “But she was nowhere near as powerful as she was today,” he replied. “The first time I saw her transform, she was still coherent, aware of her other existence. But today, after she lit up in those flames, she was more like an animal. There was nothing of the old Terrana left in her.”

“You said she wasn’t trying to kill you. Why did you say that?”

“Because we would not be sitting here if she was,” replied the prince. “Baneyon’s death triggered the transformation. I believe she was going after anyone who was covered in, or using, dark qi from the pendant. She associated dark qi with Baneyon’s death. That’s why she went after my mother first. She was carrying the pendant. She was also carrying Baneyon’s spear.”

Grandmaster Deitrux shot a concerned look at the capsule where Baneyon lay. Baneyon was technically dead. His brain showed no signs of activity and his body was rejecting the grandmaster’s qi.

The ship’s sensors went off, indicating it had located another person.

“On screen,” barked Kuldor.

A hologram appeared in front of him, showing a dark figure floating face down in the air. Everyone paled when they recognised Terrana.